July 16, 2007

Wine Blogging Wednesday #36: Let's Get Naked

Now that I have your attention, let's get down to business.

Next month, on August 8 to be exact, we'll be celebrating the three-year anniversary of Wine Blogging Wednesday. Actually, in the early days, it was called World Wide Wine Blogging Wednesday. But, participants quickly streamlined the name and the rest is Internet history. What started out as a few hardcore wine blogging geeks has really grown into more than I could have imagined. For that, I am grateful. Thank you to every person who has ever participated.

But let's stop looking back...let's look forward.

The theme for WBW #36 is "Let's Get Naked." No, I'm not suggesting or encouraging anyone to drink their wine naked, though I guess you can do what you want in the privacy of your own home. Instead, I want everyone to try a naked wine...specifically a naked chardonnay.

You'll see them labeled in many different ways: naked, unoaked, unwooded, steel-fermented, etc but they all have one thing in common...they are made without oak barrels. I've long been a fan of this style of chardonnay and I thought it would be fun to see what people can find and what they think of the wines. There aren't any price or region limits this time. Just go out and find an un-oaked chardonnay and drink it. Easy, right?

Of course, I couldn't let WBW's third anniversary go by with just a simple theme and no other news. Oh no no no. I've got a lot more in store for WBW as we move into the future.

First, I'm happy to officially announce the launch of winebloggingwednesday.org,a blog dedicated to the world's favorite monthly wine. It will be a one-stop shop for everything WBW. So, instead of having to surf the wine blogosphere constantly to make sure you hear about the next theme, you can just go to one site.

Next, you guys all know me as the founder of and the central figure behind Wine Blogging Wednesday. But, in order to grow the event even further, I've decided to put together a group of WBW Advisors who will help me manage, grow and develop the event even further. You know this group of bloggers already--they are some of WBW's most seasoned participants and wine blogging superstars. So please welcome Tim Elliott of Winecast, Andy Barrow from Spitton and "Dr. Vino" Tyler Colman as WBW Advisors. This group may grow in the near future, so stay tuned for more information on that. We'll be working together to manage the ever-growing hosting queue, to build participation and to come up with new ways to use technology as part of WBW.

And finally, we have all enjoyed the current WBW logo for a while now. But, it's time for a change so I'm announcing a new Wine Blogging Wednesday Logo Contest. Details will be coming later this week.

So that's it from WBW headquarters here on Long Island. Don't forget to join us on August 8th with your naked chardonnay!

Love unoaked Chardonnays and am excited about this theme! In fact I may have one or two on-hand....

The idea of a central website and the committee is really a nice addition to the event. These two changes and that 3-year anniversary speaks to not just the popularity of the event but the fact that you've really created a community with a community. Kudos!

Looking forward to your WBW #36 unoaked Chardonnay discussion. By coincidence, over the past month, I have tasted more than 85 unoaked Chardonnays from around the world. I would be happy to share the list with those interested as well as my impressions. The wines are from Australia, NZ, California, Oregon, China, South Africa, Spain, Italy, France, Chile and Argentina. I would also welcome hearing what others think about these wines.

I think we should do exactly that - taste naked this one time in honor of three years of WBW! And even post some tasteful photos doing so. (And yes, I mean tasteful - I've been to a nude beach, OK?) It should be a hoot!

I need a little help, please. I have never participated in WBW.The naked chard sounds like a fun way to go.I was going to do a post on my blog about British Columbia Chardonnays but now it appears, with your new WBW blog that is where we need to post. Is there a way I can post on my blog and then relay or transfer to your new blog? I have no idea of how to do that or if it is even possible to do.Thank you in advance for any help you can give me (anyone)

I see on the left hand side menu under "What am I doing now" that you have "lots of WBW entries already". But clicking on the link takes me to a twitter page and clicking on that link takes me to another twitter page. So where are they? I can't see them here or on the WBW blog and when I click on the WBW roundups to date on the right hand side, that only covers up to #35.